A map of the seafloor built from global open bathymetry with contours, depth shading, and soundings.
Not for navigational use
Depths are not reduced to a chart datum and do not account for tides or water level — they are not charted depths. Data is interpolated and merged from sources of differing age, resolution, and datum, then smoothed during tiling, so values are approximate, and gridded bathymetry omits hazards (rocks, wrecks, obstructions) shown on official charts. Always consult official nautical charts for navigation.
Sources
Seascape is a mosaic of 34 sources. Global coverage is at ~450 m resolution (zoom 8), and regional detail is as low as ~8 m (zoom 14) where high-resolution sources exist. Where sources overlap, datum-authoritative sources (e.g. NOAA S-102, already on a chart datum) are the highest priority, and then higher-resolution sources are preferred.
- African Great Lakes Bathymetry (GLWNB-2020): Victoria, Albert, Edward, George
Hamilton et al. 2022 (East Carolina University) — Sci. Data 9:649 · License: CC0 1.0 - AusBathyTopo (Australia) 2024 250 m
Geoscience Australia / AusSeabed · License: CC-BY 4.0 - BATNAS Batimetri Nasional (Indonesia, ~180 m)
Badan Informasi Geospasial (BIG) · License: BIG Ina-Geoportal terms (open, attribution; no resale) - Bodensee (Lake Constance) bathymetry 3 m — IGKB Tiefenschärfe
IGKB (Wessels et al. 2015) via PANGAEA · License: CC-BY 3.0 - CCO Multibeam Bathymetry (England & Wales nearshore, 0.25–4 m)
Channel Coastal Observatory · License: Open Government Licence v2.0/v3.0 (attribution to the regional monitoring programme named in each grid's metadata; not for navigation — derived products must be marked "Not to be used for navigational purposes") - Danmarks Dybdemodel (DDM) 50 m
SDFI / Dataforsyningen · License: see SDFI / Dataforsyningen terms - DORIS Integrated Seabed Survey (Dorset coast, 1 m)
Channel Coastal Observatory · License: Crown Copyright; the FGDC record states no licence and grants reuse in its metadata comment: "Extracted grid survey data sets (e.g. 1m spacing) published on the website may be freely used for any application (except for products and services used in support of navigation)" — derived products must be marked "Not to be used for navigational purposes" - Dybdedata terrengmodeller 50 m (Norway, Svalbard, Barents Sea)
Kartverket / MAREANO · License: CC-BY 4.0 - EMODnet Bathymetry 2024 DTM
EMODnet Bathymetry Consortium · License: CC-BY 4.0 - GEBCO 2026 Grid (ice surface elevation)
GEBCO Compilation Group / BODC · License: public domain - German Federal Waterway Bathymetry (WSV DGM-W, 2 m) — tidal reaches
Wasserstraßen- und Schifffahrtsverwaltung des Bundes (WSV) / Bundesanstalt für Gewässerkunde (BfG) · License: GeoNutzV (attribution: © Wasserstraßen- und Schifffahrtsverwaltung des Bundes) - GLDBv2 Lake Bathymetry (30 arcsec, 25 large lakes)
E. Kourzeneva & M. Choulga — Global Lake Database v2, Adv. Sci. Res. 16:57, 2019 · License: CC-BY - Great Barrier Reef Bathymetry 2020 30 m (gbr30)
Geoscience Australia / AusSeabed (R. Beaman) · License: CC-BY 4.0 - GSC Atlantic Bathymetric Compilation 100 m (Scotian Shelf + Newfoundland-Labrador)
Geological Survey of Canada / NRCan (MGMSP) · License: Open Government Licence – Canada - GSC Canada West Coast Topo-Bathymetric DEM 10 m (BC coast + Salish Sea)
Geological Survey of Canada / NRCan (MGMSP) · License: Open Government Licence – Canada - INFOMAR Bathymetry 10 m (merged inshore, Ireland)
Geological Survey Ireland / Marine Institute (INFOMAR) · License: CC-BY 4.0 - INFOMAR Bathymetry 25 m (merged shelf, Ireland)
Geological Survey Ireland / Marine Institute (INFOMAR) · License: CC-BY 4.0 - Lac de Neuchâtel Bathymetry — swissBATHY3D (~1 m)
swisstopo (Federal Office of Topography) · License: swisstopo open data (free use, attribution) - Lac Léman (Lake Geneva) Bathymetry — swissBATHY3D (~2 m)
swisstopo (Federal Office of Topography) · License: swisstopo open data (free use, attribution) - Lake Tahoe Bathymetry (USGS DDS-55, 10 m)
USGS (J.V. Gardner, P. Dartnell) — DDS-55 · License: public domain (U.S. Government work) - Litto3D Bretagne 2018-2021 (5 m coastal lidar)
Shom / IGN · License: Licence Ouverte / Etalab (cite "Shom - IGN, 2024. https://doi.org/10.17183/LITTO3D_BZH_2018_2021") - Multibeam Bathymetry (England nearshore, 0.5 m)
Environment Agency · License: Open Government Licence v3.0 - New Zealand Coastal LiDAR 1m DEM
Toitū Te Whenua Land Information New Zealand · License: CC-BY-4.0 - NOAA CUDEM (American Samoa)
NOAA NCEI · License: public domain (U.S. Government work) - NOAA CUDEM (CNMI)
NOAA NCEI · License: public domain (U.S. Government work) - NOAA CUDEM (Guam)
NOAA NCEI · License: public domain (U.S. Government work) - NOAA CUDEM (Hawaii)
NOAA NCEI · License: public domain (U.S. Government work) - NOAA CUDEM (NCEI Topobathy 2014)
NOAA NCEI · License: public domain (U.S. Government work) - NOAA NCEI Great Lakes Bathymetry (~90 m)
NOAA NCEI · License: public domain (U.S. Government work) - NOAA NOS Estuarine Bathymetric DEMs (30 m)
NOAA NOS / NCEI · License: public domain (U.S. Government work) - NOAA S-102 Bathymetric Surface
NOAA Office of Coast Survey · License: public domain (U.S. Government work) - Southwest Indian Ocean Bathymetric Compilation (swIOBC) 250 m
Dorschel et al. / Alfred Wegener Institute · License: CC-BY 3.0 - SurfZone DEM 2019 (England intertidal/surf zone, 2 m)
Environment Agency · License: Open Government Licence v3.0 - Vaklodingen 20 m (Dutch coastal waters, estuaries & main rivers)
Rijkswaterstaat · License: CC0 1.0
How to use
Seascape is published as web map tiles: a Terrarium-encoded raster DEM for depth shading, hillshade, and 3D terrain, and vector tiles carrying contour lines, spot soundings, and drying areas. Both work with MapLibre GL, Mapbox GL, or any library that reads TileJSON, and a prebuilt style renders the complete map from a single URL.
See theUsage section of the README for tile URLs, a ready-to-use style, and MapLibre examples.
License
Tiles — the tile compilation served at tiles.openwaters.io/seascape is licensed CC BY 4.0: free for any use with the following attribution:
© Open Waters: Seascape <https://openwaters.io/charts/seascape>The TileJSON endpoints carry that credit in their attribution field, so MapLibre's attribution control displays it automatically, linking back to this page. The underlying data remains under each source's own open terms, listed above.
Code — the build pipeline is BSD-3-Clause.